That's why I said that if you look at that particular Twitter feed it's quoted verbatim as an int source in the media (with the posts on Twitter being made before the media reports, so it's clear who wrote them first!).

TBH I'm a bit dubious about the whole 'bone saw' business as there's no reason to use a bone saw unless you're doing amputations, want 'operation quality' cuts, etc, all of which are totally unnecessary if you're just slicing up a body in which case a large hacksaw will do the job just as easily, possibly more quickly, certainly raise less questions at customs, and could be binned easily afterwards. Taking a saw home afterwards in your hand baggage is just one of those many things about this which make no sense at all, unless someone deliberately wanted sensational headlines.

Edit: if, as @Crash has suggested, it was found on their way out and the Turks already knew about the incident, it makes even less sense and puts the direct lie to the idea that the Turks want transparency and to know what happened, etc, since nine of the fifteen had diplomatic status / immunity.

A nine hour search on Monday. Tuesday's search cancelled. Await Wednesday's search. They're also unhappy with the Consul's behaviour which means.... wait for it ...

Turkish crime scene investigators carried out a nine-hour search of the consulate on Monday night in an investigation to look into what happened to Khashoggi, who was last seen entering the Saudi consulate on Oct. 2.

“The consul’s behaviour and approach drew reaction after Khashoggi disappeared,” Cavusoglu said - criticising the way the consul behaved in a Reuters tour of the consulate - “especially how he opened the cabinets saying ‘look he is not here’ as if mocking people, behaving disrespectfully. This was not right.”

Saudi Arabia's consul in Istanbul has been sacked and will be investigated after the disappearance of a journalist, according to Saudi media reports.

It comes as an audio recording emerged of the alleged torture and murder of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Sky special correspondent Alex Crawford says she was told by a "very well placed" source that a conversation between Saudi consul general Mohammed al-Otaibi and Mr Khashoggi can be heard on the recording, after which there was "a beating".

The source said the recording later reveals the journalist was "drugged" and "killed", before a Saudi forensics expert told others to put in headphones and listen to music while he took seven minutes to dismember the body.

Mr Khashoggi, a US resident and critic of the Saudi regime, has been missing since 2 October when he visited the Saudi embassy in Istanbul to obtain documents.

LE

That's why I said that if you look at that particular Twitter feed it's quoted verbatim as an int source in the media (with the posts on Twitter being made before the media reports, so it's clear who wrote them first!).

TBH I'm a bit dubious about the whole 'bone saw' business as there's no reason to use a bone saw unless you're doing amputations, want 'operation quality' cuts, etc, all of which are totally unnecessary if you're just slicing up a body in which case a large hacksaw will do the job just as easily, possibly more quickly, certainly raise less questions at customs, and could be binned easily afterwards. Taking a saw home afterwards in your hand baggage is just one of those many things about this which make no sense at all, unless someone deliberately wanted sensational headlines.

Edit: if, as @Crash has suggested, it was found on their way out and the Turks already knew about the incident, it makes even less sense and puts the direct lie to the idea that the Turks want transparency and to know what happened, etc, since nine of the fifteen had diplomatic status / immunity.

Story headlined ‘Saudi consul in Istanbul relieved of post, to be investigated-report’ is withdrawn. The report did not appear on Sabq newspaper’s website as reported. There will be no replacement story.

Edit: if true, this really doesn't sound like a genuine 'hit team' or interrogation, but increasingly like a group of people chosen not just to do what they were told (or thought they were being told) but who could be easily and quickly recognised - particularly with a bit of help.

I haven't cut too many peoples' fingers off, but I really don't think threatening to kill them if they didn't "shut up" would persuade them to stop making a noise.

LE

Reading this (V interesting) thread, a question that springs to mind is, what was the Saudi plan re. Kashoggi? There must be easier, less conspicuous, ways to kidnap or kill someone. If it was a killing, why the ott methods and body-disposal techniques?
If it was a kidnap prior to interrogation, why at the consulate? Why conduct the interrogation on foreign soil? Particularly if torture was intended.

On reflection about the nature of govt. in KSA (but deferring to experts), I don't believe that the killing was the work of rogue elements, nor that it was part of an attempt to discredit MBS, so why the shoddy plan, execution and aftermath? I know this view does not accord with that of other posters but we're talking about the KSA, a state renowned for the degree of control it exercises. That is, what has KSA achieved?

LE

Surely a lot of caution is needed when using Twitter as a primary source? It can be reliable but one of the most interesting aspects of this case is the amount of rumour vs confirmed facts.
Edit: it can be a reliable tool, such as for direct reporting such as 'I am in Damascus, here is film of a column of tanks heading towards Aleppo' (and allows geo-location too) but some of the stuff on Twitter about this case is sensationalist and single source).

Same caution as you'd use with anything, adding on that the ME has a reputation for hyperbole, lies, dissimulation and downright mentalism that makes reading the tea leaves difficult.

Twitter has many SMEs and I go there for many things, tech, Belingcat and Brexit news from experts.

When routine bites hard, And ambitions are low, And resentment rides high, But emotions won't grow...By voting on this post with a SABC I confirm that I am a more than a bit stupid and an all round loser.

True, Bellingcat, Oryx, etc. Who is reliable however when something like this happens and new experts spring up with quotes, stories and rumours?
Of course, Twitter is useful precisely for that - govts issuing deniable tit bits. The Turks are showing KSA their hand informally and seeing what happens. I wonder when/if they will go publicly, err, public.

LE

True, Bellingcat, Oryx, etc. Who is reliable however when something like this happens and new experts spring up with quotes, stories and rumours?
Of course, Twitter is useful precisely for that - govts issuing deniable tit bits. The Turks are showing KSA their hand informally and seeing what happens. I wonder when/if they will go publicly, err, public.

The one player whose game I can't understand at all is the Turk's. Why say that you already knew about the killing while the killers were still in the country but that you let them go and did nothing about it, as the Turks appear to have done, then say that you want the full story to come out?

LE

Nope, what he actually said was "Sergei tells the biggest fibs in the world, he's fake."

Gen dit.

When routine bites hard, And ambitions are low, And resentment rides high, But emotions won't grow...By voting on this post with a SABC I confirm that I am a more than a bit stupid and an all round loser.